I actually don't think the front makes that much noise; I think the rear is much louder, so I think it would be better to try to remove the top rear stock fan. The front door will mask some of the front fan noise. If you try a positive pressure system, using only the 2 fans on the front of the chas...

...some measure of empiricism and science behind any decision... -1- test your system -2- make a change -3- retest and compare the results These are good test tools: CPUBurn - processor stress software x4 for your quad core CPU FurMark - to stress the GPU GPU-Z - to monitor GPU temperature and fan ...

A current fad is positive pressure systems. If you used only the 2 fans on the front of the chassis, and leaving 1 fan on the CPU cooler to guarantee that adequate air passes through the CPU cooler, the air will exit out all the unblocked holes on the back of the chassis.

I am also considering moving my GPU a PCI slot down to move its (top) fan farther away from the CPU and its heatsink, as that might create some better airflow and make it easier for the GPU to evacuate the heat. Sounds like a good idea? I don't think it will make any significant effect on CPU cooli...

This is a top 10 worst case for building a silent computer. Everything about this case is the opposite of what you want for a silent build. These are the major flaws for a silent build: > there is an acoustic leak on the right side > there is an acoustic leak on the left side > there is an acoustic ...

You definitely need some quieting of your system if it is triggering your tinnitus. The spcr review of the Noctua NH-D14 shows that the addition of the 120mm fan provides very little additional cooling. On page 5 of the review spcr says " Run together, the sound has more growl and turbulence, and th...

I think you suggesting an enhancement of Reference|Recommended.

I had four of these drives in use and they seem very noisy to me. In fact when I shutdown the computer they make this troubling whining noise. You might be getting inter-modulation noises. The case can act like a guitar body and 'amplify' the resonances. In use they sound a little like popcorn popp...

I think they're both discontinued so get whichever is cheapest and/or available.

jcoffin1981 wrote:Does anyone have any input?

It has been demonstrated many times that push-pull fan configurations give very little improvement over single fans whether on the CPU cooler or on the Chassis. The PWM fan supplied with the Mugen will get the job if you are not overclocking.

2 noctua nfsb12 ... 2 nf12 I don't recognize those fan model names and so the best I can do is give you some general advice. It has been demonstrated many times that push-pull fan configurations give very little improvement over single fans whether on the CPU cooler or on the Chassis. You probably ...

Do I need a faster video card? Most Radeon HD nnnn video cards use a energy-saving feature called PowerPlay. The cards do not run at full claimed speed until they think you are running a 3D game. Most HD 3650's idle at the 2D/text speed of 110 MHz and not the 600 MHz 3D speed. You can check this ou...

Also 50 bucks in Canada:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=51309&vpn ... ture=Antec

spcw7 wrote:... any thoughts about my earlier concern ... that the top vent of the Solo II combined with the PSU I have chosen will lead to the direct release of noise into the environment?

Quieter PS's are available or the PS can be mounted with it's fan sucking from the CPU area.

I think that you should also consider the Antec p183 v3. My Main System lives in an Antec P180 spcr_edition Case. Upper Chamber: ASUS M2A-VM HDMI, Athlon II X4 640, Scythe NINJA, 2 GBytes RAM, Boot drive is OCZ Solid 3 120 GByte SSD, Backup drive is a Seagate 500 GByte FXD, Optical Disk Drive, Flopp...

A smaller volume means less air to shift, but then doesn't it also mean there's less air to soak up the heat in the first place ? I.e. If you have a larger volume there's more air so more heat can be accommodated for.? I'm not sure about this I think that it's about moving a quantity of air through...

As I am new to this low range, low power silent computing, please let me know what you think... Now that you have decided to go with a "low range, low power" category system I think that your greatest power saving opportunity will be the power supply. Conventional ATX power supplies are down to aro...

Fallsroad wrote:The power button was moved to the top of the case specifically in response to complaints about having to open the door in previous P18x cases to turn on the machine.

Those who need to have the power button behind a locked door can still get a p183.

CPU power is proportional to the voltage squared * frequency. For grins, lets say your 3GHz Wolfdale actually comes near the rated TDP of 65W under heavy load. Your undervolt and underclock leads to a load power of ~29% of 65W = ~19W. NOPE...the power consumption of a modern desktop CPU is NOT line...

dan wrote:What is the power consumption of my pc?

You'll have to measure that with a current meter perhaps a "KiloWatt", and tell us.

dan wrote:Can I compare it with this? SU9600

No. They are built with a different process.

... main problem is there seems to be a quirk with the GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 when dealing with the amount of RAM I have ... do I also have to handpick some values ... ? A lot of people are having trouble using 16 GB of RAM, especially if it is not on the QVL (Qualified Vendor List). This is the memory te...

Most E5200's automatically reduce speed and voltage from 2.50 GHz to 1.2 Ghz and 1.1 V core voltage when idle. This feature is called Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST). Forcing the speed and voltage lower than the EIST values does very little for additional power savings.

Pictures:

FYI:

For those needing a Motherboard 20 pin USB3 Adapter for older cases I got 34 results at ebay using search for "Motherboard USB 3.0 Adapter".

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_nkw=Moth ... .0+Adapter

Check out these: Antec P183 and CP-850 PS Silverstone Fortress FT02 To me very quiet at 1m means that the computer would make an almost imperceptible non-annoying sound when you got to a 1 meter distance. This very quiet at 1m situation would mean that the computer was around 1 dBa louder than the a...

johnno73 wrote:The main think is to have a very quiet PSU when idling, surfing and watching films and stuff.

This page shows that the Antec TP-750 is quieter at idle and up to 300+ watts:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1067-page5.html

Laszlo wrote:... push is better than pull with a single fan, right?

A: Yes and No.
In my experience push cools about 5 degrees F (2 'C) better and pull is about 2dB quieter.

To me very quiet at 1m means that the computer would make an almost imperceptible non-annoying sound when you got to a 1 meter distance. This very quiet at 1m situation would mean that the computer was around 1 dBa louder than the ambient noise level in the room. The ambient noise level in my den va...

You could build a quiet positive pressure system with an Antec 280 if you block the fan positions on the top and leave the door closed. Scythe 120mm PWM fans don't use very much power and you can safely run 3 of them, 2 fans on the front of the chassis and a fan on the CPU heat sink, from the CPU fa...

silencelover wrote:not the Solo II since it has room for only 2x 5.25" in the front which is not good enough for me, and also it lacks any 3.5" space in front

I'll bite....
Your parts list shows that you only need 2 external drive bays....
and what about the p280?